“flat” scholarship and research...general info layer working as it’s supposed to • wikipedia...
TRANSCRIPT
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“Flat” Scholarship and Research
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• Card catalogs searchable online
• 24-hour access to information
• New dynamic research databases
• Archives digitized• User generated content• Listservs• Library discovery tools• Digital reference collections
• Scholarly blogging• More research databases• Large academic portals• Open access repositories• E-book services
• University web projects• Large-scale book digitizing• Data set postings• Government repositories
Level 1• Even more research
database• Google books• Massive digital primary
source collections• Competing ebook collections
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• Info overload culture
• Bypassing of libraries
• Rejection of experts
• Weakening of the traditional gatekeepers
• Hard to know what to trust
“Like others, I am drowning
in scholarlyresearch.”--David Forsythe, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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Layers of Authority
• Scholarly research layer: academic databases, publisher repositories, government databases
• Curated, selective• Regularly reviewed and updated• requires “library skills” as it did in
the past
General Information Layer
Scholarly Layer
Research Layer
• Research layer: free databases, published material, etc. (google books)
• Large bodies of content• Little scholarly validation • Equivalent to “the stacks”
• General info layer (wikipedia, google, etc.)
• “Phone a friend” level of lay experts • Replaces:
• Friends• Parents• Co-workers• General reference books
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Who’s using what layer? Body Level 1
• General users• Students doing research• Scholars doing research
Research is done on all three layers
General Information Layer
Scholarly Layer
Research Layer
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The General Info Layer
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Students and the General Info Layer
Which resources do students turn to for obtaining background about a topic?
1. Course readings (97%)
2. Google (96%)
3. Scholarly research databases (93%)
4. Online card catalog (90%)
5. Instructors (87%)
6. Wikipedia (85%)
7. Government Websites (74%)
8. Classmates (71%)
9. Friends (57%)
10. Librarians (45%)
Source: How today’s college students use Wikipedia for course–related research. Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg. First Monday, Volume 15, Number 3 - 1 March 2010
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Students and WikipediaBody Level 1
• Far more students, than not, used Wikipedia.
• Called Wikipedia “my presearch tool.”
• As one student put it, Wikipedia is ideal for big–picture background “in good English” and “putting me in my comfort zone” before moving on to more serious research
• Most students also said they do not tell their professors they use Wikipedia; they simply avoid citing it in their reports.
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Conclusions about layer one Body Level 1
• Used mostly for orientation
• Organization tool
• Students understand the layers
• Low level gatekeeper to address content overload
• Not cited = no confusion
• Not overly efficient, but improved general info layer from what researches had before
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The Scholarly Layer
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Academics and the Scholarly Layer
“Researchers are drowning in a deluge of raw data and published information and face a bewildering
array of options for disseminating and sharing their work.”
--Chris Bourg, et al. Support for the Research Process: An Academic Library Manifesto. OCLC Research. Nov, 2009.
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Scholars • Sciences are leading the way
in digital adoption, but all other disciplines are following
• Library is being separated from academic content in the discovery process
• “publishing” books tied to faculty evaluation slows down change
Faculty Survey 2009: Key Strategic Insights for Libraries, Publishers, and Societies April 7, 2010. Authors: Roger C. Schonfeld & Ross Housewright. Ithaka.
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Conclusions about scholarly layer Body Level 1
• Tends to be validated and appropriate for formal research
• Doesn’t have mature organizational tools (often difficult to navigate)
• Restricted assess (generally)
• Not easily discoverable
• Often provides some sort of scholarly context
• More focused and selective but can still be overwhelming for deep academic research
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The Research Layer (the in-between)
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What is the research layer? Body Level 1
• Free material, unqualified databases• Historical and current materials blended in repositories• Highly discoverable• Prime example: Google books
Initially digitized complete holdings of 5 research libraries Today contains more than 10 million titles Non-copyright material goes in without question
But is a resource like Google Books bad for research?
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Body Level 1
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Body Level 1
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Conclusions about research layer Body Level 1
• Will inevitably become the dominant research pool
• Call for Google to make it more responsible
• Publishers and academics must also build tools to make it more responsible
• If we can do this in a timely way, Google books will be the most significant game changer for scholarship in a generation
So what are publishers doing?
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It is selective, rather than exhaustive
It provides expert recommendations with critical supportive text and annotation
Offers structurally consistent entries for clean intuitive flow between entries and modules
Includes cataloging of non-print material, especially online resources
Linking on multiple levels facilitates movement to other resources, whether online or available through a library’s catalog
Oxford Bibliographies Online represents a new type of resource
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Overall conclusions Body Level 1
• General info layer working as it’s supposed to
• Wikipedia not really bad in how it’s used
• Scholarly databases need discoverability
• Research later needs signposts and context to become responsible
• Publishers and technology specialists need to focus on it